SMS Strassburg

SMS Strassburg
History
German Empire
NameSMS Strassburg
NamesakeStrassburg
BuilderKaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven
Laid downOctober 1910
Launched24 August 1911
Commissioned1 October 1912
FateCeded to Italy in 1920
Italy
NameTaranto
Acquired20 July 1920
Commissioned2 June 1925
DecommissionedDecember 1942
FateSunk by air attack in 1944
General characteristics
Class and typeMagdeburg-class cruiser
Displacement
Length138.70 m (455 ft 1 in)
Beam13.50 m (44 ft 3 in)
Draft4.25 m (13 ft 11 in)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph)
Range5,820 nmi (10,780 km; 6,700 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement
  • 18 officers
  • 336 enlisted
Armament
Armor

SMS Strassburg was a light cruiser of the Magdeburg class in the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy). Her class included three other ships: Magdeburg, Breslau, and Stralsund. Strassburg was built at the Kaiserliche Werft shipyard in Wilhelmshaven from 1910 to October 1912, when she was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet. The ship was armed with a main battery of twelve 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK L/45 guns and had a top speed of 27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph).

Strassburg spent the first year of her service overseas, after which she was assigned to the reconnaissance forces of the High Seas Fleet. She saw significant action at the Battle of Heligoland Bight in August 1914 and participated in the raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in December 1914. By 1916, the ship was transferred to the Baltic to operate against the Russian Navy. She saw action during Operation Albion in the Gulf of Riga in October 1917, including screening for the battleships König and Markgraf during the Battle of Moon Sound. She returned to the North Sea for the planned final operation against the British Grand Fleet in the last weeks of the war, and was involved in the mutinies that forced the cancellation of the operation.

The ship served briefly in the new Reichsmarine in 1919 before being transferred to Italy as a war prize. She was formally transferred in July 1920 and renamed Taranto for service in the Italian Navy. In 1936–1937, she was rebuilt for colonial duties and additional anti-aircraft guns were installed. She saw no significant action during World War II until the Italian surrender, which ended Italy's participation in the war. She was scuttled by the Italian Navy, captured and raised by the Germans, and sunk by Allied bombers in October 1943. The Germans raised the ship again, which was sunk a second time by bombers in September 1944. Taranto was finally broken up for scrap in 1946–1947.